In the early 1900s, British Columbia embarked on a brief but intense effort to manufacture a modern countryside. The government wished to reward veterans of the Great War with new lives: soldiers and other settlers would benefit from living in a rural community, considered a more healthy and moral alternative to urban life. But the fundamental reason for the land resettlement project was the rise of progressive or "new liberal" thinking, as reformers advocated an expanded role for the state in guaranteeing the prosperity and economic security of its citizens.

This ideological shift...

In the early 1900s, British Columbia embarked on a brief but intense effort to manufacture a modern countryside. The government wished to reward veterans of the Great War with new lives: soldiers and other settlers would benefit from living in a rural community, considered a more healthy and moral alternative to urban life. But the fundamental reason for the land resettlement project was the rise of progressive or "new liberal" thinking, as reformers advocated an expanded role for the state in guaranteeing the prosperity and economic security of its citizens.

This ideological shift...